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The Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG), administered by the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, was created to provide education and training to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients and other low-income individuals for occupations in the healthcare field that pay well and are expected to either experience labor shortages or be in high demand.

HPOG programs are expected to target skills and competencies demanded by the healthcare industry; support career pathways; result in an employer- or industry-recognized certificate or degree; combine supportive services with education and training services to help participants overcome barriers to employment; and provide services at times and locations that are easily accessible to targeted populations.

In 2010, the first round of HPOG awards was made to 27 organizations located across 20 states to carry out five-year programs in their areas. The first round of HPOG grant awards is referred to as HPOG 1.0. In 2015, a second round of HPOG grant awards was made to 32 organizations located across 21 states for a new five-year period. This second round of grants is referred to as HPOG 2.0.

HPOG is authorized as a demonstration program with a mandated federal evaluation. The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) is utilizing a multi-pronged evaluation strategy to document the operations and assess the success of the HPOG program. The evaluation strategy aims to provide information on program implementation, systems change, outcomes, and impacts.

This collection is organized into 22 data parts, including:

• 3 HPOG National Implementation Evaluation datasets of employers (DS1), grantees (DS2), and management and staff (DS3) surveys
• a HPOG 15-month follow-up survey dataset (DS4)
• an analysis file with HPOG participant covariates and outcomes (DS5)
• 6 Performance Reporting System (PRS) datasets
• 3 datasets from the Pathways for Advancing Careers and Education Evaluation (PACE) containing a subset of respondents who participated in both HPOG and PACE studies
• 5 datasets from the 3 year follow up impact reports (DS15 to DS20)
• 2 datasets from the 6 year follow up impact reports (DS21 and DS22)

The PRS is the federal management information system for HPOG grantees that was designed to support participant record and case management, program performance measurement, and program evaluation research.

• The Participant dataset (DS6) is at the person-level and contains background information on participants at the time of intake into the HPOG program.

• The Participant Supplemental dataset (DS7) is at the person-level and contains supplemental information for participants who participated in the HPOG impact evaluation.

• The Education dataset (DS8) contains the date and type of remedial pre-training activities of participants during the HPOG program. This dataset is at the training-level, with one row for each educational activity.

• The Employment dataset (DS9) contains the date and type of employment development activities of participants during the HPOG program, as well as job characteristics of participants who find employment. This dataset is at the employment activity level, with one row for each employment activity.

• The Services dataset (DS10) is at the person-level and contains the date and type of supportive services received by participants from the HPOG program.

• The Training dataset (DS11) contains the date and type of vocational training received by participants from the HPOG program. This dataset is at the training level, with one row for each occupational training activity.

The PACE study was designed to produce rigorous evidence for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers about the effectiveness of nine career pathways approaches that sought to increase credentials, employment, and self-sufficiency among low-income, low-skilled Americans. The 3 HPOG subset datasets from this study include the Basic Information Form Data File (DS12), the First Follow-Up Data File (DS13), and the Self-Administered Questionnaire Data File (DS14). For more information about the PACE study, please see its ICPSR study page (ICPSR #37289).

The follow-up impact report contains a 3 Year Updated Analysis Data File (DS15). Augmented Credentials Data File (DS16) contains data about previous academic and trade school accreditations. Augmented Job Spells Data File (DS17) pertains to the participant's duration of the training and income-based questions. Augmented School Spells Data File (DS18) contains data about the duration of education. Job Conditions Data File (DS19) pertains to job conditions and coworker support. Person Level Data File (DS20) contains person-level data on job benefits and conditions, training, income, self-perception, support networks, and childcare. The 6 year follow-up impact report contains a 6 year Updated Analysis Data File (DS21) and a 6 Year Survey Data File (D22).

Various demographic information, such as age, sex, race, and ethnicity, is also included in the data.

The Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG), administered by the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, was created to provide education and training to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients and other low-income individuals for occupations in the healthcare field that pay well and were expected to either experience labor shortages or be in high demand. Following on a first round of HPOG awards in 2010 ("HPOG 1.0"), a second round of 32 five-year grants across 21 states were funded in 2015 ("HPOG 2.0"). After an additional one-year extension, the HPOG 2.0 grants concluded in 2021.

Local HPOG programs were expected to target skills and competencies demanded by the healthcare industry; support career pathways; result in an employer- or industry-recognized certificate or degree; combine supportive services with education and training services to help participants overcome barriers to employment; and provide services at times and locations that are easily accessible to targeted populations.

HPOG was authorized as a demonstration program with a mandated federal evaluation. The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) is utilizing a multi-pronged evaluation strategy to document the operations and assess the success of the HPOG program. The evaluation strategy for HPOG 2.0 includes several key components:

• The impact evaluation randomly assigns eligible participants to either a treatment group that has access to HPOG services or a control group that does not have access to HPOG but can receive other services available in the community ("business as usual") to assess the impacts of the HPOG programs. Data from the short-term impact evaluation are DS1-DS5.
• The participant and program data includes baseline intake and services data, including data captured in the HPOG 2.0 Participant Accomplishment and Grant Evaluation System (PAGES), a participant tracking and program management system that included data on participant characteristics, engagement in activities and services, and training and employment outcomes. PAGES also included the activities and supports that grantees offered. HPOG 2.0 grantee staff entered data in PAGES. Data from baseline and PAGES are DS6-DS11.
• The descriptive evaluation includes implementation, outcomes, and local service delivery systems studies of the grants and will help interpret findings from the impact study. The descriptive study also includes in-depth qualitative interviews with a small sample of HPOG study participants. Data from the in-depth interviews are available in ICPSR 38561.
• The cost benefit analyses will assess the costs and benefits of a standard HPOG program. Data from this component are forthcoming.

For more information, users are encouraged to see the National Evaluation of the 2nd Generation of Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG 2.0 National Evaluation) on the OPRE website.